I finally saw the film The Town (a year or two late), loved it in a way I thought I wouldn't (and man, how handsome Ben Affleck is in sunglasses and a police officer's uniform!). Two Saturdays ago, they were playing it all day, all night, on one of the cable stations, and, with the flu, it was good to see it, over and over.

Anyway, I liked it so much I turned to Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves, from which the film was adapted. This book will close out my reading for the 2012.

DD is taking me to see Life of Pi on New Year's Day, which gives me three days to read the thing while reading "Prince." "Pi" is how I will begin my 2013 reading, along with a few gifts I received:

A David Foster Wallace biography

A posthumous David Foster Wallace essay collection

Best American Short Stories 2012

Dave Eggars, A Hologram for the King

DD knows that a happy mommy is a reading mommy, and planned her gift-giving as such. :) (Actually, she didn't have to give me anything. Her presence on Christmas morning before goibg off with her father, and her own love of reading, was my Christmas present.)

I am reading Virginia Woolf's "Night and Day". I hear she was a feminist. I am a man and what the deuce, the novel so far seems well written. It has a familiar theme of prejudice against women but as long as the promise of a good read holds out, I am confident I'll enjoy it. I am reading it on a PDF file on my computer. I got it through the online-literature network.

Other books I am reading are "Last of the Mohicans" and "Souls of Black folk". The latter was as you may guess, written by WEB Dubois. "Last of the Mohicans" I dare say feels rather childish, but then I saw the TV series when I was a child.

I am reading Virginia Woolf's "Night and Day". I hear she was a feminist. I am a man and what the deuce, the novel so far seems well written.

Like you, I'm a man who is not prejudiced against feminist ideas though I don't always agree with some of them.

I'm a member of JSTOR and have access to articles or writings not generally available to the public. Luckily, membership is free. At present I am reading this article on feminism by Sarah Moore Grimke - "Sisters of Charity".

Her sister Angelina wrote the famous

APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF THE SOUTH:

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesaegat.html

I consider this to be the greatest writing by any female scholar in American history. Everyone should read it for Black History month. Indeed, there is much historical scholarship created by women that has long been overlooked in our schools and other institutions.

I am reading Virginia Woolf's "Night and Day". I hear she was a feminist. I am a man and what the deuce, the novel so far seems well written.

Like you, I'm a man who is not prejudiced against feminist ideas though I don't always agree with some of them.

I'm a member of JSTOR and have access to articles or writings not generally available to the public. Luckily, membership is free. At present I am reading this article on feminism by Sarah Moore Grimke - "Sisters of Charity".

Her sister Angelina wrote the famous

APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF THE SOUTH:

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesaegat.html

I consider this to be the greatest writing by any female scholar in American history. Everyone should read it for Black History month. Indeed, there is much historical scholarship created by women that has long been overlooked in our schools and other institutions.

Luckily, membership is free.

For those of us spending or who spent time in academia (or the like). Most of JSTOR remains inaccessible. See also this (from Wikipedia):

"Beginning September 6, 2011, JSTOR made public domain content freely available to the public.[26][27] This "Early Journal Content" program constitutes about 6% of JSTOR's total content, and includes over 500,000 documents from over 200 journals that were published before 1923 in the United States and before 1870 in other countries.[26][27][28] JSTOR stated that it had been working on making this material free for some time, but that the Swartz controversy and Greg Maxwell's protest torrent of some of the same content led JSTOR to "press ahead" with the initiative.[26][27]

In January 2012 JSTOR announced Register & Read, an experimental program to offer free access to some articles for individual scholars and researchers who register. It allows individuals to read articles online, but not to download PDFs. The program initially includes access to all the articles in 70 journals that account for 18% of user demand. Registered readers can read three articles every two weeks.[29] Articles less than three years old are not included in the program.

In January 2013, JSTOR announced it was expanding the number of articles available through Register & Read."

JSTOR is not the only source for historical or literary information. I use the Brooklyn Public Library website for info as well. Therefore, the info you are looking for is out there - it just takes a little work to find it.

I have always been a Vonnegut fan. Sirens of Titan is my ablsolute favorite. I love his take on the meaning of life!

Right now I am reading Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult. For those of you who are familiar with her work, it's very much her usual. A family issue that culminates in a court case. This book deals with who gets to decide when to take someone off life support.

Aside from this, one of the main characters has spent his life studing wolves. I have learned so much about their behavior. Fascinating!

Though born in Pennsylvania, Miss Alcott spent most of her life in Boston. She is famous for her portrayal of seemingly idyllic New England life but this book sheds light on an unhappy time in the USA.

Cane River. Just started it. Love it. It's fiction but based on actual events. Takes place outside New Orleans. It follows the lives of a line of slaves. They live in an area of Louisanna populated by French speaking whites, free blacks, and slaves. Both the Whites and free blacks own plantations and slaves. The events are backed up by letters and bills of sale.

I went to lighter reading for the summer. Read a couple of Jodi Picoult books...The Perfect Match and The Pact. Both interesting and typical Jodi Picoult books that deal with the human side of a particular legal issue.

I am currently reading Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry. I was lucky enough to meet the author while working at the Newburyport Literary Festival this past spring. She is one of the most interesting people I've ever met..So far the book is intriguing.